NEWS ARCHIVE

Blackstone Business Improvement District leaders seek to extend assessment fee

Blackstone Business Improvement District leaders seek to extend assessment fee

The proposal moving through city council would remove a sunset clause on the fee

WEBVTT ALEXANDER STONE IS LIVE TO EXPLAIN WHY.>> JULIE THE BLACK STONE BUSINESS IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT STARTED BACK IN 2013 AND SINCE THEN THIS AREA HAS BEEN SEEN MAJOR CROW.THE FEE RANGES FROM A COUPLE OF HUNDRED TO A THOUSAND DOLLARS DEPENDING ON THE SIZE OF THE STOREFRONT BUT BUSINESS OWNERS WE TALKED WITH SAY THEY ARE WILLING TO PAY A LITTLE EXTRA TOKEEP THE MOMENTUM GOING.>> INSIDE OLIVER AND TATE, THE OWNERS OF 6-MONTH-OLD SALON WILLTELL YOU WHEN THEY DECIDED TO OPEN A BUSINESS, ONE PARTICULAR PIECE OF THE PUZZLE JUST STUCK.>> WE DIDN'T THINK OF ANY OTHER NEIGHBOR.THIS DEFINITELY WAS GOING TO BE THE NEIGHBORHOOD WE WANTED TO DOIT IN.>> IT'S ONE OF THE NEWEST ADDITIONS, WHERE GROWTH ALONG FARNAM SEEMS INFINITE.>> WE FEEL WE'VE PROVEN OUR VALUE TO THE COMMUNITY.>> BRIAN SPENCER WORKS AT NEBRASKA MEDICINE AND SITS ON THE BOARD FOR THE BID.HE SAID FUNDS RAISED THROUGH THEASSESSMENT FEE HAVE GONE TO STREET IMPROVEMENTS, SAFETY AND TRASH PICKUP TO NAME A FEW.>> THIS NEIGHBORHOOD HAS SEEN SUCH A HUGE TRANSFORMATION.>> THE ANNIVERSARY IS THIS SATURDAY.SO WATCHING EVERYTHING DEVELOP HAS BEEN REALLY EXCITING.>> THE CORN SPOT FOCUSING ON LATE NIGHT EATS AND COCKTAILS AND HAVING A GROUP SPEARHEADING EVERYTHING FROM BEAUTIFICATION PROJECTS TO EXTRA TRASH CANS JUST MAKES SENSE.>> I, OF COURSE, THINK IT'S VERYIMPORTANT TO HAVE SOMETHING LIKETHAT, BECAUSE IT HELPS IMPROVE THE NEIGHBORHOOD.>> IT'S A SENTIMENT ECHOED UP AND DOWN THE BLOCK.>> FOR SARAH, AN EXTRA FEE FOR THE BETTERMENT OF THE NEIGHBORHOOD BENEFITS THE GROWING COMMUNITY HERE.>> THIS IS A GREAT NEIGHBORHOOD.THE BUSINESSES THAT ARE IN THIS NEIGHBORHOOD ARE JUST AWESOME.EVERYBODY SUPPORTS EVERYBODY.EVERYBODY KNOWS EVERYBODY.AND IT'S JUST A REALLY FUN, EXCITING NEW NEIGHBORHOOD T BE A PART OF.>> AND RIGHT NOW THE BID RUNS ALON FARNSWORTFARN A AM STREET.THERE IS ACTUALLY A PUBLIC MEETING TO DISCUSS THAT IDEA COMING UP ON DECEMBER 12.

Blackstone Business Improvement District leaders seek to extend assessment fee

The proposal moving through city council would remove a sunset clause on the fee

Growth along Farnam Street in Midtown Omaha seems, in recent years, to be infinite. Now leaders of the Blackstone neighborhood's Business Improvement District are looking to the future, hoping to extend terms of the BID which was set for termination in 2018.

"We feel we've proven our value to the community," Brian Spencer, an employee at UNMC and Nebraska Medicine, and a Blackstone BID board member said.

Properties with storefronts along Farnam between 36th and 42nd Streets are assessed an annual fee based on linear feet of the storefront. The fee began at $6 per front foot and has increased five percent each year since 2015. That 2015 agreement called for a sunset clause, terminating the BID in three years.

However, Spencer said the board feels the BID has a track record of success, and there's more room for growth.

Growth along Farnam Street in Midtown Omaha seems, in recent years, to be infinite. Now leaders of the Blackstone neighborhood's Business Improvement District are looking to the future, hoping to extend terms of the BID which was set for termination in 2018.